


Dec 2

by dizzy



Series: Crisscolfer Advent 2015 [2]
Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 16:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5340548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I’m in art class and I just opened a cupboard to find a tiny person (you) squished inside and you just looked at me and said “shh i’m hiding”"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dec 2

In the grand scheme of things, Chris never imagined he'd be twenty-eight and spending his days helping grade school students cut flowers out of construction paper. He thought at twenty-eight he'd be a famous actor and a movie star, or a best selling author, or in a more dire outcome, working toward the certifiable title of Old Cat Lady. 

But a lot of things in his life haven't gone quite as planned, and now he spends too many hours peeling glue off his fingertips and reciting the alphabet. 

* 

The thing is, Chris still gets to do a lot of what he loves. 

He has a job he can leave at work when he walks out the door. He's not in charge of lesson plans and he doesn't have too many certifications to keep up with. He's just an assistant, but it pays well enough. He has time to date a little, when he wants to. He has time to volunteer at an animal shelter, which makes up for the fact that he doesn't quite want the responsibility of a dog himself. He has time to hang out with his friends and travel some. He's straddling the line between the fiscal irresponsibility that he feels he's allowed in his twenties and actual adult behavior like putting some money away and worrying if his insurance plan is good enough, but for a few hours every day he gets to forget it all and let himself color outside of the lines. 

The job allows him to indulge the things he loves, and in the end he realizes he kind of loves the job, too. 

* 

Once every couple of weeks they hold party days, where parents can come in and look at all the art and projects. 

Parents could do that any day they wanted, really, but most of them don't unless some kind of special invitation is issued. It's both sad to Chris and a little bit of a relief because parents are far more a pain in the ass than the kids themselves are most of the time. 

Everyone else is outside having snacks and running off some playground energy. Chris has been elected to stay in and help begin the Hurricane Preschooler recovery phase. 

He's halfway through filling his second bag full of discarded paper plate puppets and mysteriously damp Popsicle sticks when he hears a scuffling noise. His ears are trained for the sound of tiny mischief makers, so he does a quick visual scan of the room to see who might have been overlooked. 

But there are no coats left on the rack by the door, no snack bags left on the table. But he hears the scuffling again and starts to stalk around the room. 

He's beginning to think he was imagining it when he hears a sneeze. He can tell exactly where it came from this time, so he walks over to the lower cabinets near the sink and swings the door open, ready to greet whoever was hiding with a stern face. 

But instead of one of his students he finds... a man. A man very uncomfortably folded into a space that by any rights should be too small for him. He blinks at Chris and then holds a finger in front of his mouth and says, "Shh, I'm hiding." 

"I am calling the police," Chris immediately says, because there is _a man_ hiding in the cabinets in a _preschool classroom_ and that sounds like the start of a story that won't end very well for anyone involved. 

"Whoa, whoa!" The man squirms and wriggles and manages to half collapse out. "No, wait, I was just playing hide and seek with Rosie!" 

"Rosie?" Chris asks. He knows Rosie. He also knows exactly where she is right now. "Rosie is outside _with her parents_." 

"Yeah, yes, right, her parents! My brother's her dad, I'm Darren - Darren Criss." Darren gives him a wide eyed look, tugging his shirt down. "You can totally go ask, I promise I'm not some perv-" 

"You stand right there," Chris says. He walks outside and finds Rosie with her parents, giving them a polite smile. "I'm sorry, but do you by any chance have a special guest with you tonight?" 

"OH NO!" Rosie belts out. She's one of the louder kids in Chris's class. She hasn't seemed to master anything below a small bellow when she's excited. "I FORGOT UNCLE DARREN!" 

She takes off at a run inside, with Chris and her parents jogging behind. They walk in just in time to see her skid into a stop right into Darren's legs. He bends down and scoops her up. "You, little missy, forgot to come find me and I got in trouble." 

"SORRY!" She starts pecking him all over his cheeks until he holds her out. She squirms and wiggles until he puts her down and then she spins around, skirt fluttering around her. "Can I go back outside and play?" 

"Sure," Chuck says. He looks between Chris and Darren. "Everything okay?" 

"Yeah," Chris says. "He's just not on the sign in sheet so I needed to verify he belonged to you." 

Chuck laughs. "Yeah. He's my brother, haven't managed to shake him yet." 

"Daddy!" Rosie tugs his hand. "Come on!" 

Chuck lets her lead him out, leaving Chris and Darren alone. 

"I'm sorry," Darren says. "Um, we really were playing hide and seek, and I thought she was gonna come find me-" 

"How long were you in there?" Chris asks. "They've been outside for twenty minutes." 

"I might have fallen asleep. It was dark and I took a red eye last night..." Darren gives him a sheepish look. 

"You fell asleep?" Chris can't quite believe it. "In a cupboard?" 

"I can sleep anywhere," Darren says. 

There's a moment of awkward silence where they're both just taking in each other. Now that Chris isn't panicking over a strange man near his students he actually has to admit that Darren is pretty cute. Nice hair, a nice smile, a t-shirt that hugs his arms... nicely. He could just go back to cleaning the room and let Darren go outside to see his niece but instead he says, "A red eye? So you're just visiting?" 

"I'm actually bi," Darren says. 

"Uh. That. Wasn't what-" Chris is flustered. 

Darren laughs. "Coastal." 

"Oh my god. It thought you-" Chris groans and covers his face with his hands. "I'm so embarrassed." 

"... sexual, too, though." Darren adds. 

Chris peeks out from between a gap in two of his fingers. "Really." 

"Yup." He pops the p on the end. "And, you know. I've got a place here but I haven't really been in town in like, half a year. Might could use a tour guide to refresh me." 

Chris finds himself smiling a little. "That so?" 

"Mhm." Darren takes a step forward, putting them at a proximity that's just a few inches shy of polite distance. "If you know anyone...?" 

It's clearly an invitation of sorts and Chris doesn't hesitate long in his response, mirroring Darren's lean in as he says, "Give me your number and I'll let you know if any names come to mind." 

Darren grabs a sheet of bright pink construction paper and a dark purple crayon still on the table, writing his name in big blocky letters and a number underneath it. 

"I could have just given you my phone," Chris says. He still takes it when Darren hands it to him. 

"Yeah, but this way when we tell our sappy meet cute to our kids in thirty years we'll have a memento to show them." Darren winks and it's so ridiculously forward of him and Chris doesn't know why it makes him blush. 

Chris glances at the clock. "The kids are about to come in," he says, apology in his voice. "But... I'll definitely, you know..." He waves the paper a little before folding it and sticking it into his back pocket. 

He almost loses track of Darren with the rush of kids and parents. The day is almost over and everyone packs up to leave, but every time he catches Darren's eye they shade a smile. 

* 

Yeah. Chris's job? It's really not so bad.


End file.
